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Premier League champions Manchester City welcomed Arsenal to the Etihad Stadium in what was an eventful return for English football. Pep Guardiola registered a comfortable 3-0 win over his former apprentice Mikel Arteta, albeit amidst strange circumstances.
The fixture was unfortunately marred by injuries of all sorts. Twenty-five minutes into the game, Arteta lost the services of Pablo Mari and Granit Xhaka as they were unable to continue. Despite a surprisingly resilient yet unthreatening performance from the Gunners, catastrophe struck the North London club.
As City constantly surrounded the away goal attempting to breach the Arsenal defence, Kevin De Bruyne tried to find Raheem Sterling in the box with an elegant ball. While Arsenal's substitute defender David Luiz seemingly got in the way, the Brazilian was caught ball watching and lost control. It fell kindly to Raheem Sterling who blasted it past Bernd Leno with ease.
Luiz was at it again when he brought down Riyad Mahrez in the penalty box, leading to Arsenal conceding a penalty and having a man sent off. A late and inconsequential third goal compounded their misery amidst major concerns over young Eric Garcia's injury. The young Spaniard was brought down viciously by an onrushing Ederson Moraes, after which he was stretchered off the pitch.
Although the evening had an unfortunate end for City due to Garcia's concerning injury, they sealed the points with yet another clinical performance. Arsenal, on the other hand, would have felt hard done by to an extent after Luiz's disgraceful display.
Here, we take a look at the five hits and flops from City's 3-0 win over Arsenal.
Hit: Raheem Sterling
The two-time Premier League winner has been one of City's most impressive attackers over the last two years. However, Raheem Sterling's 2019/20 season has left a lot to be desired. The English winger has registered 12 goals and one assist in his 25 Premier League games so far.
He marked his return with a well-taken goal as he found himself at the right place at the right time. Sterling was a constant thorn in Arsenal's defence and looked threatening on several occasions, particularly on the break. The 25-year-old registered two shots on goal, five key passes, 55 touches of the ball and completed a total of 48 passes.
Although it wasn't his sharpest performance given that he squandered a few excellent opportunities in the opposition box, it was enough to seal the game on the night. The Englishman delivered the end product and would hope to improve on his tally for the season moving ahead.
Flop: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Although it was more of his troops letting him down rather than a particularly poor performance from him, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had an evening to forget. The Gunners' captain was mostly anonymous in a match where Arsenal never really seemed have any sense of control bar the odd moment.
The Gabonese forward was notably ignored on several occasions while he was in dangerous areas of the pitch. It is hard to imagine why his fellow attackers didn't choose to trust their captain in many such situations instead of attempting a rash shot. Aubameyang cut a frustrated figure for the best part of the 101 minutes.
A combination of such factors led to Aubameyang registering a mere 24 touches of the ball — the lowest number for any of the 22 players who started the game excluding Xhaka and Mari. Both the Swiss and the Spaniard were subbed off due to injuries.
Apart from the 24 touches, Aubameyang failed to register a shot on target, completed 12 passes, and attempted a cross. All in all, the defending Golden Boot winner had a nightmare at the Etihad and will understandably be furious at his side.
Hit: Bernd Leno
Bernd Leno has had his fair share of blunderous errors in the Premier League so far. Yet, he thwarted City's attackers time and again at the Etihad amid a chaotic 101 minutes of football.
If not for the reassuring frame of a confident Leno in goal, Arsenal could have been hit for terrifying numbers. The German shot-stopper was at his imperious best against the champions. Leno commanded his area, was a composed figure on the ball and most importantly kept the scoreline to 3-0 with a whopping nine saves.
Apart from his nine crucial saves, including a couple of stunning reflex saves to keep Arsenal in the game, Leno played the ball out of the back commendably. The German completed 41 passes against City; a figure bettered only by Kieran Tierney for Arsenal. The former Bayer Leverkusen man also registered 58 touches on the night, the most of any player from the North London club.
Leno was colossal against the defending champions and has continued his good vein of form this year. He is a shining ray of hope in what is a weak defensive unit.
Flop: David Luiz
Mere words cannot describe the impact of David Luiz's comical cameo at the Etihad. The Brazilian defender was by some distance the worst player on the pitch and cost Arsenal their hopes of leaving Manchester even with a solitary point, let alone all three.
Arsenal's #23 was subbed on in the 23rd minute of the game due to an unfortunate injury to Pablo Mari. His two unbelievable moments of madness that followed were enough to take the game away from the visitors. Luiz's error to allow the ball to fall kindly for Sterling gave City the lead in the dying minutes of the first half. Six minutes after the restart, the former Chelsea man brought down Mahrez in the box, leading to a straight red card as well as a City penalty.
An error leading directly to a goal, a penalty conceded and a red card all squeezed into a devastating cameo of just under 30 minutes. It what has been a troubled stay at Arsenal, things have gone from bad to worse with his fourth penalty conceded this season — averaging one every 6.5 games for the Gunners.
His days could possibly and understandably be numbered at the Emirates stadium.
Hit: Kevin De Bruyne
Out of all the chaos and uncertainty in the game, the one constant was Kevin De Bruyne running the show and doing what he does best. The mercurial Belgian was dominant in midfield, driving at the Arsenal defence with unbelievable power and poise at every opportunity. The 28-year-old seamlessly orchestrated the midfield alongside Ilkay Gundogan and never had to fret over losing control.
De Bruyne set up Sterling to break the deadlock with a silky pass and doubled Guardiola's advantage by converting the penalty by blasting the ball into the net. The former Chelsea midfielder registered five shots, three out of which were on target — both of them being the highest for any player on the pitch. He contributed with three interceptions, two key passes, and completed three dribbles to go with it.
The playmaker spoke about his desire to break Thierry Henry's longstanding assist record (20 assists) and looks set to demolish it in 2019/20. The set-up for Sterling's opener was De Bruyne's 17th Premier League assist of the season. He now needs a minimum of three to level Henry's record and one more to break it in eight league fixtures.
With City having conceded defeat in the league, De Bruyne & co will now have the UEFA Champions League firmly in their sights. But as for the game against Arsenal, it was just another routine day at the office for the spectacular Kevin De Bruyne.
